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| League of Dictators? |
| 2006-05-01 |
| Why China and Russia Will Continue to Support Autocracies By Robert Kagan Ever since liberalism emerged in the 18th century, its inevitable conflict with autocracy has helped shape international politics. What James Madison called "the great struggle of the epoch between liberty and despotism" dominated much of the 19th century and most of the 20th, when liberal powers lined up against various forms of autocracy in wars both hot and cold. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #1 ... so people now talk of a "Chinese model" in which political autocracy and economic growth go hand in hand. Um ... no. Only morons talk about "autocracy and economic growth" going hand in hand. Ever since the dawn of mankind, tribal chieftains, royalty, dictators and theocratic rulers have sought to force their underclass to support whatever arbitrary socio-economic structure they have used to justify their own existence. More often than not, it has involved an intensely parasitic relationship with the aforementioned underclass (see: "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jared Diamond). Autocrats have little, if anything, to do with "economic growth." Most often, they have everything to do with plundering, raping and pillaging wealth wherever they can sniff it out or happen to stumble across it. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-05-01 20:22 |